Cooking with electricity ( Not gas ).

kingcobra

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Can anyone offer advice on cooking using electricity and no gas.

I understand that you would need to generate a lot of power from whatever sourse, however is this feasible ?.

I plan to have a very large battery bank, maybe over 1000 amps. I also plan to have a very large solar panel and probably an Air X wind genny as well, and then use the engine as and when required, I will have about a 100amp Alternator.

Are there any fully electric hobs & ovens available for marine use ?. or can a domestic unit be converted ok?.

Also what is the feasability of using a small electric kettle ?.

I would be grateful; for any help

Many Thanks

Kingcobra.
 

mainshiptom

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You can do that with marine or normal hobs and cooker but you will find that the battries will just die and your inverter will be flashing low voltage at you !


We do use a electric kettle on the go but we make sure it is a low wattage one (under 1kw) ! the eninge is charging and it is only on for say 5 minutes, when we cook (electric) we either have to put Gennie on (7.5KW) or be connecteed in a marina !

Tom
 

snowleopard

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a small electric kettle pulls about 1KW. if you try to run it off batteries via an inverter you'll draw around 100A/ that will require some massive cables!
 

Alastairdent

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Dangers of using gas are much overrated. If you are really worried, install non-sparking exhaust fans, and detectors. this will be cheaper and easier than trying to go all electric.

Lecky isn't 100% safe either.
 

Talbot

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I know of one boat where they installed an inverter running off the main engine in order to provide enough power to run their electric cooker and microwave. Which meant that the engine had to be started for eeither of these operations Would not have been my solution as I dislike the thought of 240v at sea in bad weather!
 

bigskipper

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I cook with electricity and find it most convienent .I have a 3500watt invertor and a generator and the most of the time I haven't the gennie switched on! I only need it when I am cooking the main meal for a lot of people. My battery bank is 330amperehours at 24volt and does the job for me with only one charge per day.Contact me if you would like more details .I can tell you of a fully stainless cooker as well for a good price
 

kingcobra

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Thanks for your reply.

Can you give me more details regarding your set up ?. Do you run electric, hob, cooker and kettle?. If so what sort of amount of power do these use on average.

I also understand that there are some 12volt kettle`s now available which draw about 10amps or so ?.

It seems to me if you can generate enough electricity from Wind, Solar and genny / engine, electric could be at least partially viable ?.


Many Thanks

Kingcobra.
 
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We have an electric toaster a 950watt kettle, a microwave and an induction hob (needs a steel or iron pan) Each runs fine on the 1500watt (2200peak) inverter but we never use two at the same time.

Steve Cronin
 

summerwind

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I have a combi oven - it will roast, grill or micro - or all three. Its all stainless steel and been doing well in a marine environment for over three years now. Bought it from Argos. I also have electric kettle and toaster etc - nothing special. My power source is a 5.5 KVA genny through a dedicated 240v wiring system. I might happen to plug into the marina of course!!!

On passage I use gas. I use gas for other cooking too - don't want the kit rusting up.

I use computers on the boat - a lot - proper domestic/office pc's with 240v at source. To power these I use an inverter. I disconnect the genny from the mains system and connect the inverter. Works a treat and no noise, apart from the wind genny. Life really isn't that difficult!!!
 

boatmike

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If you have a 1500W inverter at 12 volts you need very high amperage cables anyway. If you don't want to draw that much power from your battery then you shouldn't have such a big inverter. Most inverters of this size come with leads the size of starter motor cable already fitted and the inverter should be mounted as close as possible to the battery with a separate isolator switch and appropriate 12v trip or fuse and never fed from anywhere else on the domestic 12 v supply. The AC side of the inverter should also be protected and the easiest way to do this is via a domestic distribution box fitted with residual current curcuit breakers. Household wiring cable should never be used for the AC circuit though. Rubber insulated flex is the best, feeding normal household 3 pin plugs. The inverter should also be "grounded" direct to an earthing plate on the hull. Not the 12v earth or indeed a bonded anode. The practice often seen where an inverter is "jumped" across a battery with crocodile clips with no separate ground is potentially lethal on a boat.
Assuming 80% efficiency (and most inverters are way better than that nowdays) you will indeed draw about 100amps for about 3 minutes to boil a kettle full on a small 1000W kettle. This represents 5 amp hours. Assuming you do this 10 times a day at 50 amp hours/day the drain is not enormous if you have the wherewithall to put it back.
I am just assessing this lot myself and think I will take a little kettle and an 800W microwave with me this year. The logic being that very often I am motoring or in a marina on mains power anyway so why burn expensive gas? I always monitor the state of charge of my batteries closely and will probably still use gas if I am sailing though as my solar panels won't keep the batteries topped up otherwise. I have also never found a way to stir fry in a microwave...... The only other tip is that if you want to run computers from an inverter it is better to have a seperate little inverter dedicated to them or you are likely to suffer "spikes" in the supply every time you make a cup of coffee......
 

Kangaloosh

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Hi,

We have lived aboard since 2000 and use a small electric kettel (600W) and a small electric oven (1.2kW). We only use them in marinas - which is about 80% of the time, when on anchor we use the gas. Often the electricity is included in the berthing fees - so we save on the hassle of replacing the gas bottles so often - and we save on condensation - burning gas produces steam - one of the products of combustion.

In most UK and Med marinas we have found the power supplies to be adequate. In French Atlantic coast marinas and almost all Baltic, German and Netherlands marinas we have found supplies so low that we have to switch off the Calorifier (1.5kW) when we want the oven on.
 
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